Home > Consumer Reviews > Linksys Network Everywhere 4-Port Cable/DSL Router

5 minute setup(if that long).
I have WindowsXP n Windows98 on other computer, works great.
You really can't make a mistake.
Didn't need to use included CD.
Just use QUICK INSTALLION data included in box with router.
I run the router all day and it is Warm not Hot.
I would advise like others not to place on a rug though.
Actually never place any electrical or flamable items directly
on a rug(carpet).

My situation is that I was paying [$] a month for an Earthlink DSL connection for my desktop, then another [$] a month to connect via dialup on my laptop (Earthlink gives you 20 'free' dial hours in their DSL package, then $1 for each hour after 20 hours of use, capped at [$]). Since I work back-and-forth on the two computers all day, I was hitting that [$]cap consistently.

With that background, I purchased the Linksys Network Anywhere 4-port device. This unit does not come with any Ethernet cables. You need a total of three cables to connect two PCs. Most folks like me have one in place. So, factor the cost of two additional cables into your purchase price.

My only complaint is about the setup documentation - you're advised in a couple of places that unless you really know what you're doing, it's best to just allow the set-up configuration wizard to handle everything. Well, I ran through the wizard-controlled series of steps twice. At the each of each sequence, the program concluded "Link successful." A test revealed otherwise.

So I pulled up the detailed configuration manual (included on the CD in PDF format), and buried down in Chapter 6 ('Configuring the Router') there's this buried text about configuring a 'PPPoE connection.' The wizard assumes Dynamic IP, but the config guide reveals that you want to set up PPPoE 'whenever you require a user ID and password to connect to the Internet.'

Well, duh, that's like 85% of us (anyone using Earthlink or MSN, for example). So what's this text doing buried so deep in the manual? Anyway, you use a browser-based admin interface to configure the router with the User ID and password, then you're good to go.

Once you set up that first computer, it's easy from that point. Because the steps I described above configure the router appropriately, the second PC simply worked as soon as I connected the Ethernet cable.

My total cost, including two 3-ft. cables and tax, was [$]. That means I'll get a payback in a little less than four months. By any measure, that's a heck of a good deal.

I purchased this router in August of '03. It seemed to work great, although I did have a "freezing" issue whenever I would attempt to access files on a secondary computer on the network. Primary computer seemed to lock WinXP up for about 25 seconds each time. It only did it if I hadn't accessed the secondary's HDD for several minutes though. So I figured it must be some sort of communication issue between XP on primary box and 98SE on secondary box. But after reading about all these horrible experiences so many people have had with this thing, I now realize it was probably the router. I shall find out soon enough.

Yes, "Seemed" is in the past tense here, as this thing up and failed on me tonight - right out of the blue. As others have reported, "Diag" light stays on all the time and won't reset no matter how many times you push and hold the reset button. It's just dead. I'm pissed, because it only had a 1 year warranty. It did work for a little over a year, but come on - now I'm sitting here on a Friday night totally unable to use my network and unable to contact Linksys support until Monday. If I had known it was going to die right after the warranty was up, I never would have "saved money" buying this cheapest of routers at Fry's Electronics. Anything that dies right after it's 1 year limited warranty is up, in my opinion, is a total scam. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS(...)!!!

I have had this router for about 6 months and have no trouble with it. I installed it and haven't had to mess with it since. I did have a little trouble installing it, but I called the Linksys support and we got it figured out. The router is a good product and I found the Linksys support was pretty good. Would recomend

For basic functionality (sharing a broadband connection, file and printer sharing, etc), this is a solid little router with few, if any, reliability problems. I've had it running for almost six months, sharing a RoadRunner cable modem between a Win2k PC and a RH Linux PC, and I don't recall it dropping a connection or needing a reset.

The 'fun' starts, however, if you try to use some of the advanced functionality, like port-forwarding. I've tried everything under the sun to forward port 80 to my Linux PC (to run a webserver) but the router wil do so for a few hours (or minutes, or not at all!) then switch to forwarding it to my Win2k PC. As another reviewer here noted, this is a bug acknowledged by their tech support with no plans for a fix (I'm running the latest firmware). As far as I can tell, other features like forwarding non-standard ports (for P2P or voice chat) and the DMZ feature work fine.

If you need/like to tweak advanced features, then stay away from this router. But if you have no plans other than plain-vanilla internet, file and printer sharing, then this is not a bad purchase for the price.